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Capitals are usually among the largest cities in their regions. For example, Montevideo is Uruguay's capital as well as its biggest city. If a capital city is much bigger than a nation's second city, like Bangkok in Thailand, it can be considered a primate city.

However, a capital is not always the largest city in a country. For example, the capital of the India is New Delhi, which is smaller than Mumbai, the largest city; and the capital of Pakistan is Islamabad, which is smaller than Karachi. Also, in countries with subdivisions like the United States, the capital cities or towns of the federated states are often not the largest or most populated town. For example, Albany is capital of New York, not New York City.

An unusual case exists in Canada; the federal capital, Ottawa, is not the largest city in its province, Ontario, which is Toronto. But Toronto happens to be the capital of the province of Ontario. This way, Toronto is both a capital and a non-capital, depending on how you see it, as a city in a country or part of it.

Not all countries have capitals. Nauru is a country that does not officially have a capital, but the district of Yaren, which is where the government is, can be called the de facto capital. Also, although many people consider the city of Bern in Switzerland to be the capital of the country, it is in fact not the case by law, but has the status of "federal city" by the government which is based there.